This weekend was the last full weekend we’ll have in ICC and at the JAARS Center here in NC. Our course is over next Friday, and from there, we’re moving on to hang out with family nearby and then back to the Houston area for the foreseeable future. So, naturally, we packed as much as we could into this weekend–you know, one last movie with the friends, one last guys’ night, one last picnic with the neighbors, one last bike race, etc.
We might as well have called this one Crazy Train, because that’s sometimes how I felt as I tried to understand how it was played. But we had fun, and that matters.
On Friday night, I went over to a neighbor’s apartment and hung out with the guys, where we played a game that was new to me, called Ticket to Ride. We also shared and enjoyed stories about life on the mission field, complete with a seaplane-dock-side baby delivery and a mine-laden runway landing experience. Saturday we spent mostly enjoying ourselves around the center, having two meals outside with friends.
The kids turned lunch into an entrepreneurial adventure–here they are with their handiwares on display.
At lunchtime, I happened upon this sight: many of the neighborhood kids (ours included) decided that it was a good day for an entrepreneurial endeavor–they posted signs all over the apartments telling folks that their handmade clay pots were for sale. They also ate lunch at their “storefront.” At least lunch went well. We shared a pizza picnic Saturday night with another family that is making a transition from a life overseas to a life on the tundra–they’re going to Alaska to serve with the Mission Aviation Repair Center in Soldotna, AK.
On Sunday, on the way home from our last day at the Charlotte Holiness French Church of the Nazarene, we stopped to have something really cool–handmade fresh ice cream. The folks who dish this up have a special mixer that has a liquid nitrogen tap. These guys take their cool very seriously. And the kids loved it, because they got to see cream and ingredients turned immediately into yummy frozen creations.
The proprietors at Frozen Gold (right next door to the BBQ joint, of course) take their frozen treats very seriously. Here the owner turns cream, sugar, and strawberries into something tasty.
Sunday afternoon, as the sun was setting on our last weekend here, Phoenix and friends organized a all-comers-welcome bike race around the apartments. All the kids lined up, from the very young to the not-so-little-anymore.
There were all kinds of bikes entered into the race–but not everyone finished. Phoenix, Wolverine, and Beast competed, while Cyclops started the race and served as safety monitor.
Amazingly, Phoenix (on Cobra) managed to outpace her friends on larger bikes, and she finished just ahead of one of her new friends. All in all, it was a good weekend, a fitting end to the four weekends we’ve shared here with our friends at the JAARS Center in North Carolina.
Phoenix rounds the last corner in the bike race, with the second-place rider just behind her. She really enjoyed the race.
Raise her seat up about 1.75″ to get that full leg extension. Gives just a touch more torque, which as you know results in more forward power. Why is she not wearing a helmet? Excellent shot!!